Dark City

Title: Dark City
Year: 1998
Director: Alex Proyas
Starring Cast: Rufus Sewell, Keifer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Rated: R

Reel Reviews Rating:

Dark City is one of those well made, underrated science fiction films that now seems dated since the advent of The Matrix. A disenchanted viewer may look at this DVD and think, “Oh, great. Another sci-fi movie in which our reality as we know it may not be what it seems. Yawn. Been there, done that.” But the thing is that Dark City came out a year before Neo learned that there is no spoon. In fact, there are so many similarities between the famous Keanu Reeves movie and Dark City that I’m willing to bet that it was a major influence on the Wachowski brothers when they wrote their story about the Matrix.

Memento

Title: Memento
Year: 2000
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring Cast: Guy Pierce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Rated: R

Reel Reviews Rating:

I had started hearing about Memento before I was about to move to Japan (back in 2000), but it came out some time after I had left the country. When I returned in 2002 and moved back in my parents’ house, I started making a mental list of movies I wanted to watch in my absence. Sure enough, Memento was one of them, especially since I’d heard my boyfriend talk about it. Over time, I had forgotten about that mental list, especially since my family has seen all those movies and weren’t exactly willing to rent them again. Oh sure, I got to catch up a little via HBO, but not completely. However, since I now have my own place, I can rent whatever the hell I want and watch it on my own terms. So I got Memento.